The Gaza Strip is a small parcel of land bordering Egypt, Israel and the Mediterranean Sea.The region has seen continual religious and territorial violence since the 16th Century BC. In more recent times however, it has been a prominent site in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Whilst Arab-Israeli clashes have been ongoing since the end of the 19th Century, conflict over the Gaza Strip has only become a major international issue since the birth of an Israeli State in 1948 - following the end of the British Mandate - and, in particular, the Six-Day War in 1967.
The Birth of an Israeli State: the start of new tensions
In November 1947, the General Assembly of the UN passed a resolution partitioning Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state. The boundaries of this partition “allocated to the Jews some fifty per cent of Palestine”[1] ; although this did not include Jerusalem or what would become the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Within Palestine, violence between Arabs and Jews were escalating to the point of civil war.
In response to this the British declared their intention to withdraw from Palestine on the 15th of May 1948, almost three months ahead of the UN’s scheduled departure plan[2]. As British withdrawal was hastily conducted, with no framework for a future transition put forward or suggested, it is likely that this contributed to the inflammation of local tensions between the Israeli’s and Palestinians. On the 14th of May 1948, hours before the expiration of the British Mandate, the Jewish settlers in Palestine acted unanimously in proclaiming “Israel an independent country” in accordance with the two state solution of UN Resolution 181[3].
1948-49 Arab-Israeli War
In response to the declaration of Israeli independence the Arab League reiterated that the “only solution of the Palestine problem is the establishment of a unitary Palestinian State”[4]. The termination of the British Mandate of Palestine in mid-May, 1948, marked the commencement of the war, following a period of civil war between 1947-1948. On the 15th of May 1948 the combined Arab militaries from Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon invaded the newly formed state in an attempt to gain Arab hegemony, resulting in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Due to the nature of the conflict, fighting was mostly conducted on the former British Mandate territory, the Sinai Peninsula and Southern Lebanon.
Despite UN armistice talks, all warring parties remained in a state of conflict. The Arab forces suffered a series of crushing military defeats, resulting in the expansion of Israeli boarders to “encompass 80 per cent of Palestine”[5]. Eventually the fighting subsided with the signing of several Armistice Agreements in 1949, one of which effectively ceded the Gaza Strip to Egyptian control [6]. Whilst the Gaza Strip was in Egyptian hands, Israel now controlled a substantially larger area than was assigned to it during the partition plan, including the entire Mediterranean coast south of Lebanon as well as the Western portion of Jerusalem.
Refugees: the beginning of the Palestinian refugee crisis in the Gaza Strip
The 1948 Arab-Israeli saw a large number of Palestinian’s and Israeli’s flee both Israel and neighbouring Arab states. Palestinian Arabs were either forced to leave or misled into doing so by Arab radio broadcasts [7]. Up to 656, 000 Arab inhabitants fled from Israeli-held territory to neighbouring Arab states, with an estimated 190, 000 fleeing to the Gaza Strip[8]. Similarly, once Israel became a country in 1948, “Arab countries vented their anger against Jews residing in their lands”[9] with Jews being expelled or leaving voluntarily as Arab countries became increasingly hostile and unsuitable places to live. Unlike their Palestinian counterparts however, Jewish refugees were quickly granted Israeli citizenship. This brought some 560, 000 Jews into Israel from Arab lands but resulted in no Jewish refugee camps in the State of Israel.
Unlike Israel, “Arab governments… kept Arab refugees in camps, pending a re-conquest of Palestine that never took place”[10]. The property left behind by these people and their right of return remains a key issue of contention in Israeli-Palestine peace negotiations.Therefore, the Gaza Strip has had to deal with a dramatic rise in refugees, both from the 1948 War and other conflicts. This, combined with the high birth rate of these refugees[11] has made it one of the most densely populated areas in the world, placing further strain on humanitarian efforts within the region. Through the passage of time “more than seven out of ten Palestinians” have been born under the Israeli occupation of Gaza, “creating two generations of Palestinians” who have suffered the depravations associated with refugee status [12].
1949-1967: a time of inactivity?
Aside from the brief 1957 Suez Canal War - where Israel occupied Gaza for a short period of time before being pressured by the United States to abandon their expansionist tactics - land settlement conflicts between Israeli’s and Arab’s remained essentially frozen by Cold War politics between 1949-1967 [13]. With France and Britain relinquishing their interests in Palestine, America remained the only Western superpower in the region. Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip, Syria and the Golan Heights whilst the Old City of Jerusalem remained in Jordanian hands. Israel's borders were thus much more easily defended, with Israel’s military occupation now extending to three-fifths of the Palestinian lands allocated to the Arabs by the UN in 1947 [14]. Whilst land conflict between states had ceased for the time being, attacks between Arabs and Israeli’s continued. During this time various Palestinian extremist groups were founded(see below: the rise of extremism). Between 1949 and 1956 some 1,300 Israeli’s were murdered by Arab raids; in return "Israel’s retaliatory attacks became increasingly severe”[15].
The Six Day War: a new chapter in land settlement conflicts
By 1967, tensions between the Arabs and Israeli’s in the Middle East were rising. Palestinian radicalization had mobilized to the point that in June 1967, the armies of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt "massed on Israel's borders, preparing for yet another united effort to defeat their enemy”[16]. Facing the grim prospect of simultaneous invasion, in which the combined Arab forces held a massive military advantage in numbers of soldiers, tanks and aircrafts, Israel pre-empted the war, and decided to strike first [17]. Strategic attacks led Israel to eliminate Egyptian air power, followed by concentrated attacks on Egypt, Jordan and Syria [18]. Within six days, and against the odds, Israel had dramatically seized many neighbouring territories and occupied an unprecedented number of former Arab regions, including: the Sinai Peninsula (including the Gaza Strip), all Jordanian territory West of the Jordan River (West Bank), as well as all of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights[19].
The Six-Day War has had a lasting effect on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Geographically, Israel continues to occupy or effectively control (in the case of Gaza) the territories claimed in the Six-Day war. This remains a crucial issue in peace talks between the two states, with Palestinians seeking to reclaim land seized in the war.
Like the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, the Six-Day war also saw a large number of Arab refugees flee Israel. Rowley asserts that many Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and elsewhere sought refuge in neighbouring countries, such as Jordan [20]. Other too fled Israel and came to settle in the Gaza Strip. The right to return remains a fiercely debated issue between both parties, made more difficult by the fact that if Arabs returned to Israel they would vastly outnumber the Jewish population [21].
The Rise of Extremism: the Palestinian Liberation Organisation
The squalid conditions which Palestinian refugees were subjected to[22] is likely to have attributed towards the growth of anti-Israeli sentiment and provided a rich breeding ground for extremism [23]. Consequently, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) was founded in 1964. The organizations main objective was “the elimination of Zionism”[24] a goal generally consistent with the Arab State’s Khartoum Resolution of "no peace, no recognition and no negotiation" with Israel [25]. By 1974, the Palestinians’ people’s movement had generated enough popular support that the UN General Assembly enacted Resolution 3236 which established that Palestinian's had the “inalienable rights” of self determination, national independence and sovereignty in Palestine [26]. As the UN Resolutions were non-binding they had little effect in reaching a peace agreement; Palestinian militancy and Israeli reprisals were commonplace while Jewish settlers continued to encroach into the annexed land.
Despite these simmering tensions the PLO, under Yasser Arafat, attempted to change political direction and recognise the State of Israel in order to become an internationally credible actor [27].This perceived thawing of relations with Israel caused the founding of other organisations such as Hamas in 1987 – a movement whose objectives include the “obliteration” of Israel and the understanding that any “peaceful solutions ... are in contradiction to the principles” of Hamas [28]. Hamas’ use of suicide bombings in Israel and the nature of the heavy handed Israeli response, combined with the high level of youth unemployment and frustration, resulted in a general Palestinian uprising in 1987 – the First Intifada [29].
The First Intifada
Occurring between 1987 and 1993, the First Intifada, claimed the lives of approximately 2000 people [30]. Its devastation and prolonged nature galvanised the world community into attempting to broker a peace agreement between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples. This resulted in the Madrid Conference of 1991, of which its offshoot was the historical Oslo Accords of 1993. The Oslo Accords was the first face to face meeting between the Israeli government and the PLO. The Oslo Accords resulted in the formal recognition of the two parties, the establishment of a Palestinian Authority (PA) to govern the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the renunciation of terrorism by the PLO/PA and the withdrawal of Israeli military forces from urban Palestinian areas [31].
Further reconciliation attempts, the Second Intifada and the Israeli unilateral withdrawal
Whilst the Oslo Accords in 1993 marked a step in the right direction, future meetings and peace attempts did not enjoy the same levels of success.
An attempt to further deepen the relations as embodied in the Oslo II Accords and Wye River Memorandum failed due to still simmering tensions, extremist violence by both hardline Palestinians and Israeli’s and the high degree of corruption committed by the PA [32]. Compromise appeared to be within reach for both parties during the Camp David Summit of 2000, where Israel offered the PA an eventual 91% of the West Bank, all of the Gaza Strip and Eastern Jerusalem as the Palestinian controlled capital of a Palestinian state. Israel also pledged that all refugees could apply for compensation of property from an international fund to which Israel would contribute along with other countries. The talks eventually fell over however, with Yasser Arafat walking out of the Summit, partially due to a lack of agreement relating to the Palestinian right of return [33].
Following this lack of agreement the Second Intifada occurred, lasting from 2000 until 2005. During this time approximately 3000 people were killed, with the violence only abating when Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 [34]. The Israeli unilateral withdrawal involved the extraction the Israeli Defence Force from all of Gaza as well as the removal of 7500 Jewish settlers. Of note however is the fact that these settlers had accounted for only 0.6 per cent of the Gaza population but had owned approximately 30 per cent of the land [35]. While Israel had withdrawn all its forces from within Gaza it still retained de facto control over the territory as. This is because Israel continued to exercise control over all sea, air and land access to the Gaza Strip, as well as half the territories budget and much access to water [36]. Moreover, Gaza remains heavily dependent on Israel both for economic trade and basic services, and it is not uncommon for Israel to deny Gaza and its people basic utilities such as electricity [37].
Post 2006: Hamas elected to power
In 2006 Hamas gained a plurality of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Assembly election, defeating the ruling Fatah party (representing the PLO) in the countries first fair and free election [38]. In the lead up to the election, Hamas, presenting itself as the ‘List of Change and Reform’, omitted mention of Israel's destruction from its manifesto, claimed to renounce suicide attacks and offered Israel a ten year truce (Hunda) [39]. Scholars claim its unexpected victory can largely be attributed to a desire for political change within Gaza, resulting from the perceived corruption and inefficiencies of the Fatah party [40]. Once elected however, Hamas was not recognized by many actors (including the EU, UN and US to name but a few) due to its failure to recognise Israel and its endorsement of other militant-group attacks on Israel [41]. Rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel increased and an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, was captured by militants representing Hamas and remains a prisoner [42].
Sanctions were soon imposed on Gaza by the US and the EU and the Israeli military briefly entered Gaza in 2006 in an attempt to rescue Shalit and destroy the Qassam rockets. An internal struggle emerged between the Hamas and the Fatah - the Battle for Gaza - with a putsch resulting in the Fatah being ejected in 2007 [43]. Meanwhile, rocket attacks from Gaza increased to a daily level, with the result that Israel imposed the Blockade of Gaza;[44] ostensibly to prevent rockets from reaching Israel but also as a means to denying basic food and medical supplies from entering Gaza if need be [45]. The continuing rocket attacks into Israel, numbering as much as 220 in one week, resulted in Israeli airstrikes against Hamas militants and Gaza infrastructure. An uneasy six month truce ensued, but ended with Hamas declaring an end to the ceasefire and resuming its rocket attacks against Israeli cities [46]. Israel then initiated "Operation Cast Lead" in December 2008, a three week incursion into Gaza which resulted in even more damage dealt to an already ravaged Gazian Infrastructure [47]. Israel received a large degree of international condemnation for this operation, with actors claiming Israel had violated human rights and utilised massively disproportionate force [48].
The Road Ahead
After years of fighting the situation in Gaza in tenuous; its economy is almost nonexistent, its people are dependent on foreign food aid, it suffers from a significant refugee problem and it faces international isolation as its unrecognised government, Hamas, continues in its belligerent conflict with Israel [49]. Furthermore, recent reports indicate that Hamas is beginning to lose political control within the Gaza Strip as rival militant factions vie for power [50]. In an effort to change the worsening situation within Gaza, Barack Obama appointed a special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, in a new attempt to broker peace [51]. Despite Obama’s tougher stance on Israel, the current situation and future prospects for peace appears bleak, with Israel defiantly establishing more settlements throughout Palestinian territories [52].
References
1 Rowley C, Taylor J, “The Israel and Palestine Land Settlement Problem, 1948-2005: An Analytical History” Public Choice, Vol. 128, No. 1/2, The Political Economy of Terrorism (Jul., 2006), p. 83 2 The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, 1948, May 14
3 ‘Statement by the Arab League upon the Declaration of the State of Israel’, 1948, May 15
4 Israel-Egypt Armistice Agreement, 1949, February 24
5 Rowley C, Taylor J p. 83
6 Israel-Egypt Armistice Agreement, 1949, February 24
7 Rowley C, Taylor J p. 83
8Ibid
9 Ibid, p. 82
10 Ibid
11 Khayat, Abdullah, ‘A Problem for Palestine: Gaza's Birthrate Highest in Middle East’,Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, January, 1994, p.35, available from:http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0194/9401035.htm[accessed 22 April 2010] 12 Ben-Meir, Alon, “Negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian Breakthrough”,Middle East Policyvol 16 no. 1, (Spring), 2009, p.54
13 Rowley C,TaylorJ p. 80 14 Ibid
15 Ibid
16 Ibid, p. 79
171967 Arab-Israeli War part 1, documentary, History Channel 2008, viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E63AKJpa1Tk 18 Ibid
19 Rowley C,TaylorJ p. 81 20 Ibid, p. 83
21 Ibid
22‘Prolonged Crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Recent Socio-Economic Developments’(2007), United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, p.27-45 available from: http://www.unrwa.org/userfiles/20100118142612.pdf [accessed 22 April 2010]
23 Ben-Meir 2009 op. cit. p.54 24 Palestine National Liberation Movement, ‘International Charter - Resolutions of the Palestine National Council’, July 1-17, 1968, available from:http://www.iris.org.il/plochart.htm[accessed: 22 April 2010] 25 League of Arab States,Khartoum Resolution, September 1,
27 Sayigh, Yezid ‘The PLO and the Palestinian Armed Struggle’,The Middle East Online: Series 1: Arab-Israeli Relations, available from:http://www.gale.cengage.com/DigitalCollections/whitepapers/GML41407_PLOAndPalestinian.pdf[accessed 22 April 2010] 28 Hamas, ‘The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement’, August 18, 1988
29 ‘Palestinian Intifada’,Palestine History.com, available at:http://www.palestinehistory.com/issues/intifada/intifada1.htm[accessed 22 April 2010]United Nations 30 ‘Statistics – Fatalities in the First Intifada’,B’Tslem, available from:http://www.btselem.org/ENGLISH/statistics/First_Intifada_Tables.asp[accessed 22 April 2010] 31 ‘Declaration of Principles On Interim Self-Government Arrangements’, September 13, 1993
32 Wright, Lawrence, ‘Captives’,New Yorkervol 85 no. 36, 2009, p.49
33 Taub, Gadi, “Parting Shots: will the Gaza War usher in a two-state solution”The New Republic, February 4, 2009
34 President Mohammad Abbas' Speech at the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit, February 8, 2005 available from:http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/082617960CDB7E168525707B0046A4C4[accessed 22 April 2010] 35 Bradford, Sophie, ‘Ariel Sharon’s “Disengagement Plan”’,CAABU Briefing 83(August), 2005
36 ‘The Gaza Strip – One Big Prison’,B’Tslem, 2009 available from: www.btselem.org [accessed 22 April 2010]
37 ‘Israel approves Gaza power cuts’, BBC News, October 25, 2007 available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7061617.stm [accessed 22 April 2010]
38 ‘Carter: Stop favoring Fatah over Hamas’,Jerusalem Post, June 19, 2007 available from:http://www.jpost.com/[accessed 22 April 2010] 39‘Who are Hamas?’,BBC News, January 27, 2007 available from:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1654510.stm[accessed 22 April 2010] 40 Wright 2009 op. cit. p.49
41 Ibid p.49
42 Ibid p.50
43 Herzog, Michael, ‘The Hamas Conundrum’,Foreign Affairs, February 8, 2010, p.1, available from:http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/65952/michael-herzog/the-hamas-conundrum[accessed 22 April 2010] 44 ‘Hamas and the Terrorist Threat from the Gaza Strip – The main Findings of the Goldstone Report Versus the Factual Findings’,Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, March, 2010, pp. 95-102, available from: www.terrorism-info.org.il [accessed: 22 April 2010]
45 ‘Suffocating: The Gaza Strip Under Israeli Blockade’,Amnesty International, 2010, pp.1-8, available from: www.amnesty.org [accessed 21 April 2010]
46 ‘Hamas Declares Truce Over’,BBC News, December 22, 2009 available from:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7791100.stm[accessed 21 April 2010] 47 ‘Guidelines for Israel’s Investigation into Operation Cast Lead’,B’Tslem, 2009, pp.18-24, available from: www.btselem.org [accessed 22 April 2010]
48 ‘Report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’,UN General Assembly – Human Rights Council, September 25, 2009, p. 24
49‘Human Rights in the Occupied Territories Annual Report’,B’Tslem, 2007 pp.4-56, available from: www.btselem.org [accessed 22 April 2010]
50 Hana Levi, Julian, ‘Signs that Hamas is Losing Control Over Gaza’,Arutz Sheva, March 7, 2010 available from:http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/136365[accessed 22 April 2010] 51 Henry, Ed & Labott, Elise, ‘George Mitchell named special envoy for the Middle East’,CNN, January 22, 2009 available from:http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/22/obama.mitchell/index.html[accessed 22 April 2010]
52 Heller, Aron, ‘Israel Approves New Building in East Jerusalem’, ABC News International, March 24, 2010 available from: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=10186592 [accessed 22 April 2010]
Background
The Gaza Strip is a small parcel of land bordering Egypt, Israel and the Mediterranean Sea.The Birth of an Israeli State: the start of new tensions
In November 1947, the General Assembly of the UN passed a resolution partitioning Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state. The boundaries of this partition “allocated to the Jews some fifty per cent of Palestine”[1] ; although this did not include Jerusalem or what would become the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Within Palestine, violence between Arabs and Jews were escalating to the point of civil war.In response to this the British declared their intention to withdraw from Palestine on the 15th of May 1948, almost three months ahead of the UN’s scheduled departure plan[2]. As British withdrawal was hastily conducted, with no framework for a future transition put forward or suggested, it is likely that this contributed to the inflammation of local tensions between the Israeli’s and Palestinians. On the 14th of May 1948, hours before the expiration of the British Mandate, the Jewish settlers in Palestine acted unanimously in proclaiming “Israel an independent country” in accordance with the two state solution of UN Resolution 181[3].
1948-49 Arab-Israeli War
In response to the declaration of Israeli independence the Arab League reiterated that the “only solution of the Palestine problem is the establishment of a unitary Palestinian State”[4]. The termination of the British Mandate of Palestine in mid-May, 1948, marked the commencement of the war, following a period of civil war between 1947-1948. On the 15th of May 1948 the combined Arab militaries from Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon invaded the newly formed state in an attempt to gain Arab hegemony, resulting in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Due to the nature of the conflict, fighting was mostly conducted on the former British Mandate territory, the Sinai Peninsula and Southern Lebanon.Despite UN armistice talks, all warring parties remained in a state of conflict. The Arab forces suffered a series of crushing military defeats, resulting in the expansion of Israeli boarders to “encompass 80 per cent of Palestine”[5]. Eventually the fighting subsided with the signing of several Armistice Agreements in 1949, one of which effectively ceded the Gaza Strip to Egyptian control [6]. Whilst the Gaza Strip was in Egyptian hands, Israel now controlled a substantially larger area than was assigned to it during the partition plan, including the entire Mediterranean coast south of Lebanon as well as the Western portion of Jerusalem.
Refugees: the beginning of the Palestinian refugee crisis in the Gaza Strip
The 1948 Arab-Israeli saw a large number of Palestinian’s and Israeli’s flee both Israel and neighbouring Arab states. Palestinian Arabs were either forced to leave or misled into doing so by Arab radio broadcasts [7]. Up to 656, 000 Arab inhabitants fled from Israeli-held territory to neighbouring Arab states, with an estimated 190, 000 fleeing to the Gaza Strip[8]. Similarly, once Israel became a country in 1948, “Arab countries vented their anger against Jews residing in their lands”[9] with Jews being expelled or leaving voluntarily as Arab countries became increasingly hostile and unsuitable places to live. Unlike their Palestinian counterparts however, Jewish refugees were quickly granted Israeli citizenship. This brought some 560, 000 Jews into Israel from Arab lands but resulted in no Jewish refugee camps in the State of Israel.Unlike Israel, “Arab governments… kept Arab refugees in camps, pending a re-conquest of Palestine that never took place”[10]. The property left behind by these people and their right of return remains a key issue of contention in Israeli-Palestine peace negotiations.Therefore, the Gaza Strip has had to deal with a dramatic rise in refugees, both from the 1948 War and other conflicts. This, combined with the high birth rate of these refugees[11] has made it one of the most densely populated areas in the world, placing further strain on humanitarian efforts within the region. Through the passage of time “more than seven out of ten Palestinians” have been born under the Israeli occupation of Gaza, “creating two generations of Palestinians” who have suffered the depravations associated with refugee status [12].
1949-1967: a time of inactivity?
Aside from the brief 1957 Suez Canal War - where Israel occupied Gaza for a short period of time before being pressured by the United States to abandon their expansionist tactics - land settlement conflicts between Israeli’s and Arab’s remained essentially frozen by Cold War politics between 1949-1967 [13]. With France and Britain relinquishing their interests in Palestine, America remained the only Western superpower in the region. Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip, Syria and the Golan Heights whilst the Old City of Jerusalem remained in Jordanian hands. Israel's borders were thus much more easily defended, with Israel’s military occupation now extending to three-fifths of the Palestinian lands allocated to the Arabs by the UN in 1947 [14]. Whilst land conflict between states had ceased for the time being, attacks between Arabs and Israeli’s continued. During this time various Palestinian extremist groups were founded(see below: the rise of extremism). Between 1949 and 1956 some 1,300 Israeli’s were murdered by Arab raids; in return "Israel’s retaliatory attacks became increasingly severe”[15].The Six Day War: a new chapter in land settlement conflicts
By 1967, tensions between the Arabs and Israeli’s in the Middle East were rising. Palestinian radicalization had mobilized to the point that in June 1967, the armies of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt "massed on Israel's borders, preparing for yet another united effort to defeat their enemy”[16]. Facing the grim prospect of simultaneous invasion, in which the combined Arab forces held a massive military advantage in numbers of soldiers, tanks and aircrafts, Israel pre-empted the war, and decided to strike first [17]. Strategic attacks led Israel to eliminate Egyptian air power, followed by concentrated attacks on Egypt, Jordan and Syria [18]. Within six days, and against the odds, Israel had dramatically seized many neighbouring territories and occupied an unprecedented number of former Arab regions, including: the Sinai Peninsula (including the Gaza Strip), all Jordanian territory West of the Jordan River (West Bank), as well as all of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights[19].The Six-Day War has had a lasting effect on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Geographically, Israel continues to occupy or effectively control (in the case of Gaza) the territories claimed in the Six-Day war. This remains a crucial issue in peace talks between the two states, with Palestinians seeking to reclaim land seized in the war.
Like the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, the Six-Day war also saw a large number of Arab refugees flee Israel. Rowley asserts that many Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and elsewhere sought refuge in neighbouring countries, such as Jordan [20]. Other too fled Israel and came to settle in the Gaza Strip. The right to return remains a fiercely debated issue between both parties, made more difficult by the fact that if Arabs returned to Israel they would vastly outnumber the Jewish population [21].
The Rise of Extremism: the Palestinian Liberation Organisation
The squalid conditions which Palestinian refugees were subjected to[22] is likely to have attributed towards the growth of anti-Israeli sentiment and provided a rich breeding ground for extremism [23]. Consequently, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) was founded in 1964. The organizations main objective was “the elimination of Zionism”[24] a goal generally consistent with the Arab State’s Khartoum Resolution of "no peace, no recognition and no negotiation" with Israel [25]. By 1974, the Palestinians’ people’s movement had generated enough popular support that the UN General Assembly enacted Resolution 3236 which established that Palestinian's had the “inalienable rights” of self determination, national independence and sovereignty in Palestine [26]. As the UN Resolutions were non-binding they had little effect in reaching a peace agreement; Palestinian militancy and Israeli reprisals were commonplace while Jewish settlers continued to encroach into the annexed land.Despite these simmering tensions the PLO, under Yasser Arafat, attempted to change political direction and recognise the State of Israel in order to become an internationally credible actor [27].This perceived thawing of relations with Israel caused the founding of other organisations such as Hamas in 1987 – a movement whose objectives include the “obliteration” of Israel and the understanding that any “peaceful solutions ... are in contradiction to the principles” of Hamas [28]. Hamas’ use of suicide bombings in Israel and the nature of the heavy handed Israeli response, combined with the high level of youth unemployment and frustration, resulted in a general Palestinian uprising in 1987 – the First Intifada [29].
The First Intifada
Occurring between 1987 and 1993, the First Intifada, claimed the lives of approximately 2000 people [30]. Its devastation and prolonged nature galvanised the world community into attempting to broker a peace agreement between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples. This resulted in the Madrid Conference of 1991, of which its offshoot was the historical Oslo Accords of 1993. The Oslo Accords was the first face to face meeting between the Israeli government and the PLO. The Oslo Accords resulted in the formal recognition of the two parties, the establishment of a Palestinian Authority (PA) to govern the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the renunciation of terrorism by the PLO/PA and the withdrawal of Israeli military forces from urban Palestinian areas [31].Further reconciliation attempts, the Second Intifada and the Israeli unilateral withdrawal
Whilst the Oslo Accords in 1993 marked a step in the right direction, future meetings and peace attempts did not enjoy the same levels of success.An attempt to further deepen the relations as embodied in the Oslo II Accords and Wye River Memorandum failed due to still simmering tensions, extremist violence by both hardline Palestinians and Israeli’s and the high degree of corruption committed by the PA [32]. Compromise appeared to be within reach for both parties during the Camp David Summit of 2000, where Israel offered the PA an eventual 91% of the West Bank, all of the Gaza Strip and Eastern Jerusalem as the Palestinian controlled capital of a Palestinian state. Israel also pledged that all refugees could apply for compensation of property from an international fund to which Israel would contribute along with other countries. The talks eventually fell over however, with Yasser Arafat walking out of the Summit, partially due to a lack of agreement relating to the Palestinian right of return [33].
Following this lack of agreement the Second Intifada occurred, lasting from 2000 until 2005. During this time approximately 3000 people were killed, with the violence only abating when Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 [34]. The Israeli unilateral withdrawal involved the extraction the Israeli Defence Force from all of Gaza as well as the removal of 7500 Jewish settlers. Of note however is the fact that these settlers had accounted for only 0.6 per cent of the Gaza population but had owned approximately 30 per cent of the land [35]. While Israel had withdrawn all its forces from within Gaza it still retained de facto control over the territory as. This is because Israel continued to exercise control over all sea, air and land access to the Gaza Strip, as well as half the territories budget and much access to water [36]. Moreover, Gaza remains heavily dependent on Israel both for economic trade and basic services, and it is not uncommon for Israel to deny Gaza and its people basic utilities such as electricity [37].
Post 2006: Hamas elected to power
In 2006 Hamas gained a plurality of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Assembly election, defeating the ruling Fatah party (representing the PLO) in the countries first fair and free election [38]. In the lead up to the election, Hamas, presenting itself as the ‘List of Change and Reform’, omitted mention of Israel's destruction from its manifesto, claimed to renounce suicide attacks and offered Israel a ten year truce (Hunda) [39]. Scholars claim its unexpected victory can largely be attributed to a desire for political change within Gaza, resulting from the perceived corruption and inefficiencies of the Fatah party [40]. Once elected however, Hamas was not recognized by many actors (including the EU, UN and US to name but a few) due to its failure to recognise Israel and its endorsement of other militant-group attacks on Israel [41]. Rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel increased and an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, was captured by militants representing Hamas and remains a prisoner [42].Sanctions were soon imposed on Gaza by the US and the EU and the Israeli military briefly entered Gaza in 2006 in an attempt to rescue Shalit and destroy the Qassam rockets. An internal struggle emerged between the Hamas and the Fatah - the Battle for Gaza - with a putsch resulting in the Fatah being ejected in 2007 [43]. Meanwhile, rocket attacks from Gaza increased to a daily level, with the result that Israel imposed the Blockade of Gaza;[44] ostensibly to prevent rockets from reaching Israel but also as a means to denying basic food and medical supplies from entering Gaza if need be [45]. The continuing rocket attacks into Israel, numbering as much as 220 in one week, resulted in Israeli airstrikes against Hamas militants and Gaza infrastructure. An uneasy six month truce ensued, but ended with Hamas declaring an end to the ceasefire and resuming its rocket attacks against Israeli cities [46]. Israel then initiated "Operation Cast Lead" in December 2008, a three week incursion into Gaza which resulted in even more damage dealt to an already ravaged Gazian Infrastructure [47]. Israel received a large degree of international condemnation for this operation, with actors claiming Israel had violated human rights and utilised massively disproportionate force [48].
The Road Ahead
After years of fighting the situation in Gaza in tenuous; its economy is almost nonexistent, its people are dependent on foreign food aid, it suffers from a significant refugee problem and it faces international isolation as its unrecognised government, Hamas, continues in its belligerent conflict with Israel [49]. Furthermore, recent reports indicate that Hamas is beginning to lose political control within the Gaza Strip as rival militant factions vie for power [50]. In an effort to change the worsening situation within Gaza, Barack Obama appointed a special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, in a new attempt to broker peace [51]. Despite Obama’s tougher stance on Israel, the current situation and future prospects for peace appears bleak, with Israel defiantly establishing more settlements throughout Palestinian territories [52].References
1 Rowley C, Taylor J, “The Israel and Palestine Land Settlement Problem, 1948-2005: An Analytical History” Public Choice, Vol. 128, No. 1/2, The Political Economy of Terrorism (Jul., 2006), p. 83
2 The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, 1948, May 14
3 ‘Statement by the Arab League upon the Declaration of the State of Israel’, 1948, May 15
4 Israel-Egypt Armistice Agreement, 1949, February 24
5 Rowley C, Taylor J p. 83
6 Israel-Egypt Armistice Agreement, 1949, February 24
7 Rowley C, Taylor J p. 83
8Ibid
9 Ibid, p. 82
10 Ibid
11 Khayat, Abdullah, ‘A Problem for Palestine: Gaza's Birthrate Highest in Middle East’, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, January, 1994, p.35, available from:http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0194/9401035.htm [accessed 22 April 2010]
12 Ben-Meir, Alon, “Negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian Breakthrough”, Middle East Policy vol 16 no. 1, (Spring), 2009, p.54
13 Rowley C, TaylorJ p. 80
14 Ibid
15 Ibid
16 Ibid, p. 79
17 1967 Arab-Israeli War part 1, documentary, History Channel 2008, viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E63AKJpa1Tk
18 Ibid
19 Rowley C, Taylor J p. 81
20 Ibid, p. 83
21 Ibid
22‘Prolonged Crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Recent Socio-Economic Developments’(2007), United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, p.27-45 available from: http://www.unrwa.org/userfiles/20100118142612.pdf [accessed 22 April 2010]
23 Ben-Meir 2009 op. cit. p.54
24 Palestine National Liberation Movement, ‘International Charter - Resolutions of the Palestine National Council’, July 1-17, 1968, available from: http://www.iris.org.il/plochart.htm[accessed: 22 April 2010]
25 League of Arab States, Khartoum Resolution, September 1,
27 Sayigh, Yezid ‘The PLO and the Palestinian Armed Struggle’, The Middle East Online: Series 1: Arab-Israeli Relations, available from:http://www.gale.cengage.com/DigitalCollections/whitepapers/GML41407_PLOAndPalestinian.pdf [accessed 22 April 2010]
28 Hamas, ‘The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement’, August 18, 1988
29 ‘Palestinian Intifada’, Palestine History.com, available at: http://www.palestinehistory.com/issues/intifada/intifada1.htm [accessed 22 April 2010]United Nations
30 ‘Statistics – Fatalities in the First Intifada’, B’Tslem, available from: http://www.btselem.org/ENGLISH/statistics/First_Intifada_Tables.asp [accessed 22 April 2010]
31 ‘Declaration of Principles On Interim Self-Government Arrangements’, September 13, 1993
32 Wright, Lawrence, ‘Captives’, New Yorker vol 85 no. 36, 2009, p.49
33 Taub, Gadi, “Parting Shots: will the Gaza War usher in a two-state solution” The New Republic, February 4, 2009
34 President Mohammad Abbas' Speech at the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit, February 8, 2005 available from:http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/082617960CDB7E168525707B0046A4C4 [accessed 22 April 2010]
35 Bradford, Sophie, ‘Ariel Sharon’s “Disengagement Plan”’, CAABU Briefing 83 (August), 2005
36 ‘The Gaza Strip – One Big Prison’, B’Tslem, 2009 available from: www.btselem.org [accessed 22 April 2010]
37 ‘Israel approves Gaza power cuts’, BBC News, October 25, 2007 available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7061617.stm [accessed 22 April 2010]
38 ‘Carter: Stop favoring Fatah over Hamas’, Jerusalem Post, June 19, 2007 available from: http://www.jpost.com/ [accessed 22 April 2010]
39‘Who are Hamas?’, BBC News, January 27, 2007 available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1654510.stm [accessed 22 April 2010]
40 Wright 2009 op. cit. p.49
41 Ibid p.49
42 Ibid p.50
43 Herzog, Michael, ‘The Hamas Conundrum’, Foreign Affairs, February 8, 2010, p.1, available from: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/65952/michael-herzog/the-hamas-conundrum[accessed 22 April 2010]
44 ‘Hamas and the Terrorist Threat from the Gaza Strip – The main Findings of the Goldstone Report Versus the Factual Findings’, Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, March, 2010, pp. 95-102, available from: www.terrorism-info.org.il [accessed: 22 April 2010]
45 ‘Suffocating: The Gaza Strip Under Israeli Blockade’, Amnesty International, 2010, pp.1-8, available from: www.amnesty.org [accessed 21 April 2010]
46 ‘Hamas Declares Truce Over’, BBC News, December 22, 2009 available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7791100.stm [accessed 21 April 2010]
47 ‘Guidelines for Israel’s Investigation into Operation Cast Lead’, B’Tslem, 2009, pp.18-24, available from: www.btselem.org [accessed 22 April 2010]
48 ‘Report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’, UN General Assembly – Human Rights Council, September 25, 2009, p. 24
49‘Human Rights in the Occupied Territories Annual Report’, B’Tslem, 2007 pp.4-56, available from: www.btselem.org [accessed 22 April 2010]
50 Hana Levi, Julian, ‘Signs that Hamas is Losing Control Over Gaza’, Arutz Sheva, March 7, 2010 available from: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/136365[accessed 22 April 2010]
51 Henry, Ed & Labott, Elise, ‘George Mitchell named special envoy for the Middle East’, CNN, January 22, 2009 available from:http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/22/obama.mitchell/index.html [accessed 22 April 2010]
52 Heller, Aron, ‘Israel Approves New Building in East Jerusalem’, ABC News International, March 24, 2010 available from: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=10186592 [accessed 22 April 2010]